RE epidurals effecting bf: while I highly suspect that epidurals have a negative effect on bf, I caution all to not forget the other many confounders that can also be having an effect. Like with the poster who said the midwife assisted births (with low or no epidurals, I assume) had less trouble bf and the hosp births had much trouble, you have to take into account the hosp environment. Separation of mother, baby; pitocin inductions; early, rough bathing of baby, etc etc. Also the thread on babies in nicu...here again you have separation of mom, baby; mothers rarely holding the baby. I see the neonatologists telling moms that the baby can't be out of isolette because he will get cold and use calories and not gain weight. This is for a 3 pound baby, not a 1 pound one. They don't have a clue, it seems, about skin to skin and kangaroo care. Anyway, not meant to be a rant, but to be really credible when we talk about this subject, I think we have to admit that, with the current status of most births (i.e. high medicalization), it is hard to tease out just what part the epidural itself plays in bf problems. Laurie Wheeler, RN, MN, IBCLC Violet Louisiana, s.e. USA ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html